Very disappointing.
Sharks had their chances to win but just couldn’t put the game to bed.
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The Knights defeated the Raiders 30-28 in extra time in Newcastle this afternoon’s elimination final, thanks to Kalyn Ponga’s penalty goal in the 89th minute.
The Knights will next fly to Auckland to face the Warriors.
The Raiders led 16-6 at half time, but the Knights scored 22 points in 15 minutes to lead 28-16, before Canberra fought back with two converted tries in the final 15 minutes of the match to level the scores at 28-28.
The match was marred by allegations by Knights five-eighth Tyson Gamble that his arm was bitten by Raiders star Jack Wighton in the 48th minute. Wighton was placed on report.
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Was quite chuffed to see my Sharkies be an answer in today’s “Pointless” (British game show) episode on Channel 9.
The contestants had to name AFL or NRL teams that had a place name in them.
Cronulla was a “Pointless” answer (meaning than 0 out of 100 people named it), so they won the 2,250 pound jackpot.
Other NRL teams that were also Pointless answers included Newcastle, Parramatta, Gold Coast, Penrith and St George (but technically in some ways that’s incorrect since its a Shire, but there is also a St George in western QLD).
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Wighton was found guilty of a biting charge at the NRL Judiciary tonight and banned for three matches. He will now be unavailable for the end-of-season Pacific Championships, as well as South Sydney’s opening round clash against the Sea Eagles in Las Vegas next year (he is joining the Rabbitohs in 2024).
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It means he’ll miss the first three games of the 2024 season for his new club – including the historic trip to Las Vegas – with Wighton unable to use Test matches as part of the ban because he announced his retirement from the rep arena earlier in the year.
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The entertainment line-up on Grand Final day also includes two performances from Australian rock band, King Stingray. The five-piece from the Northern Territory, who perform in both English and Yolŋu Matha languages, will deliver the NRLW Grand Final pre-game show before returning to the stage in the build up to the NRL Grand Final.
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McDonald made 10 interstate appearances for Queensland and played 13 Tests for Australia, before taking up coaching.
In 1980, he guided the Queensland Maroons to a historic win in the inaugural State of Origin match at Lang Park.
Between 1992 and 2012, McDonald was the chairman of the QRL, an organisation he was fiercely proud to lead given his strong ties to grassroots rugby league in his home city of Toowoomba.
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The Australian Rugby League Commission has bought a Quest hotel located next door to Shark Park.
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Melbourne scored a very late try through Will Warbrick with three minutes remaining, to beat Sydney Roosters 18-13 in tonight’s semi-final at AAMI Park. Missing Ryan Papenhuyzen and Jahrome Hughes, the Storm led 10-6 at half time before the Roosters took the lead with Lindsay Collins’ try and Sam Walker’s 71st minute field goal.
The Storm will face Penrith in next Friday’s preliminary final.
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Yes I thought the Storm were gone after Sam Walker kicked a field goal to put the Chooks in front.
That Will Warbrick try to get the Storm the win was every bit as good as Israel Folau’s was that got the attention of the AFL for the spectacular overhead “mark”.
5 teams remain, and all from different regions: Sydney (Penrith), Newcastle, New Zealand, Melbourne and Brisbane. National. Nice.
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New Zealand Warriors are into next week’s preliminary final against Brisbane, after thrashing Newcastle 40-10 in Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium this evening, in front of a sellout crowd of just over 26,000. The Warriors dominated most of the match, apart from the first few minutes of second half when Dylan Lucas scored a try for the Knights to reduce the margin to six points. The home side launched a three-try blitz early in the match and eventually scored seven tries to two.
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Up the Wahs! 
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Yes Knights never really recovered after trailing 16-0 at the 11th minute. Knights got a couple of tries back, but it was pretty much all The Wahs after about the 50th minute.
Lionel Morgan, the first Indigenous athlete to represent Australia in any major football code, has died at the age of 85 after a long battle with dementia.
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The Penrith Panthers will make their 4th Grand Final in a row… by beating Melbourne Storm 38-4 in the First Preliminary Final.
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It’s the first time since Parramatta in 1981-1984 that a team plays in four consecutive grand finals.
It was a lopsided match with the home side scoring six tries to one.
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A lot to be proud of for the Storm - we’ve been abysmal all year yet miraculously finished third and made it to a prelim.
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